Cars Race Thru Tokyo
Background
When the EPCOT overhaul began the main objectives put down by CEO Bob Iger to add more attractions to World Showcase and to integrate popular Pixar characters into the park. Imagineers always saw the empty show building in the Japan pavilion as a great place to add an attraction to World Showcase but none of their pitches picked up steam until John Lasseter shared the details on the upcoming cars sequel to the imagineers.
Once learning the sequel would take Lightning McQueen and the gang to Tokyo the imagineers knew they could craft a story with the Cars characters and world appropriate for Epcot. The Cars attraction in the Japan pavilion began by borrowing assets from the already underway Cars Land project. Based on the IP and probable budget a Mr Toad esq dark ride thru the city of Tokyo made the most sense. However, things changed once some imagineers in R&D showed the Team working on the attraction an exciting new ride system. The system which allowed for two dark ride vehicles to race each other while on the same track was exactly the thing needed to push this attraction to the next level. The imagineers showed John Lasseter the pitch. He was immediately on board and supportive of the project and with John Lasseter on board the attraction quickly got the green light.
Ride System
https://patents.google.com/patent/US7921781B2/en?q=~patent/US5623878A
Construction of the attraction started in late 2010 and it was announced to the public at the 2011 d23 expo. The attraction along with a new gift shop opened Memorial Day weekend 2012 around a year after Cars 2 and just two weeks ahead of Cars Land.
Exterior
The exterior of the attraction is almost exactly as it was before. Guests approach the feudal Japanese fortress except now a banner is hung above the gate featuring the name of the attraction. Another two banners are hung on either side of the gate showcasing some of the finest racers we’ll be racing against in the attraction.
Queue
After entering the fortress the queue is fairly simple and is themed to the pits of the race way. As guests weave around the metal dividers they can view advertisements for the many brands of the Cars world like Rustee’s and Dinoco along with monitors displaying the Japanese Lightning McQueen advertising. Guests then reach the boarding area and are briefed by Mater about the safety procedures using the overhead speakers. Guests are then clear to board the ride vehicles and join the race.
Ride Vehicles
The ride vehicles are really sets of two Cars that are connected but to guests boarding the attraction they appear as two entirely different ride vehicles. Each Car has two rows and holds 5 people 2 in the front 3 in the back and each ride vehicle has two cars with a capacity of 10 people. The ride vehicles are designed to look like Nascars and come in a variety of colors like blue, yellow, red, orange, and green. They appear very similarly to the ride vehicles of the Cars attraction of Walt Disney Studios Paris.
Ride Experience
Note: the ride features no audio animatronics. Any characters described in the rest of the post are either animated figures like the Jungle Cruise or static figures like the Fantasyland dark rides. Also the attraction travels at a top speed of about double the speed of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The illusion of speed is created thru air and light effects. These effects are aided by tight turns and the ride vehicles’ rotation in order to make the race exciting.
After exiting the load area both cars come face to face with Lightning and Mater who wish the racers luck with the big race. These figures use the same projected mouths technique from Cars Land. Lightning tells off he’ll see us on the track and the vehicle takes off into the next scene.
The cars realign to be side by side as they come up to the starting line. An announcer counts down ready, set, go in Japanese as the lights turn from red to yellow to blue. Once the light turns blue the vehicle takes off as screens either side of the vehicle show other racers taking off and passing the guest’s cars.
The vehicles cross the starting line and drive thru a quick s-bend in the track before heading up an incline to a second level. As the vehicle progresses thru the track the car leading is switched to make the ride feel like a race that either vehicle could win. Around both of these scenes are high rise buildings decorated with colorful billboards and neon lights.
After reaching the top of the incline the vehicles take another turn and as they do guests aboard either car get an elevated view of the city of Tokyo and Mount Fuji towering over it. This is accomplished with a combination of miniatures, projections, and a large mural. Once completing the turn the track straightens out and the vehicles speed up before reaching another turn.
After completing the turn guests see a massive pile up in front of them and the vehicle makes a sharp right turn. The vehicle then slows down simulating a slam on the brakes and riders crash into a high rise building. Then either car and experiences a unique show scene that the other one does not.
The first scene takes place in a bathroom as the car turns outwards to face a screen. The scene is quick and guests are sprayed with water multiple times simulating the experience of a Japanese toilet. The car then turns and rushes out of the bathroom.
The other scene takes place in a sushi restaurant and a chef car offers the guest’s car some wasabi. After a few seconds steam begins to rise from the guests car’s mouth and they take off out of the shop.
The racers then reunite and go through a couple of quick turns down city streets before reaching a long straight section of track. The ride vehicle drives over a miniature recreation of Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge. As the cars race down the bridge they pass Francisco and Lightning McQueen becoming the leading cars in the race.
The vehicles then spiral downward on a type of exit ramp before reaching the last straight section of track towards the finish line. On either side of the track are stands full of cheering fans. The ride then comes to a close with a checkered flag being waved and one of the two cars randomly winning the race.
After slowing down the vehicles pass Lightning and Francisco who congratulate the guests on their victory and praise their driving skills. The vehicle then continues back into a pit stop and reaches the unload station.
Cars Pit Shop
The unload area leads to the brand new gift shop for the attraction that sells all sorts of Cars merchandise like diecast cars, t-shirts, hoodies, and much much more. This shop then leads into the already existing Mitsukoshi store.
Guest reception
The ride proved to be popular among families, especially those with young boys. However, most Disney fans found the attraction strange and disappointing when compared to the much larger and impressive Radiator Springs Racers. Epcot fans were especially upset because they believed the attraction disrupted the themes of World Showcase and didn’t belong in Epcot.
